California expands Activision Blizzard lawsuit to incorporate short-term staff | Engadget

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has expanded the scope of its towards Activision Blizzard to incorporate short-term staff. As first reported by , the watchdog filed an amended grievance on Monday to redefine the group it plans to signify within the go well with. The grievance now constantly references “workers” as a substitute of “employees,” noting protections the state of California has in place to guard people from harassment and sexual discrimintation “exist for employees and contingent or temporary workers.”

The amended go well with additionally alleges Activision Blizzard has used non-disclosure agreements to straight intrude with DFEH’s skill to research, prosecute and treatment the office violations that occurred on the firm. Additionally, “documents related to investigations and complaints were shredded by human resource personnel,” in line with the company.

We’ve reached out to Activision Blizzard for remark.

Following a two-year investigation into the corporate, DFEH final month accused Activision Blizzard executives of . According to the company, solely 20 p.c of all workers on the studio are ladies, and so they’re constantly paid much less, ignored for promotions and fired sooner than their male counterparts. Activision executives initially dismissed the lawsuit, claiming it included “distorted, and in many cases false descriptions of Blizzard’s past.”

Employees have been fast to sentence the corporate’s response, and so they went on to on the finish of July. Following the protest, Blizzard studio president J. Allen Brack, one of many executives named within the DFEH go well with, stepped down, as did.

When Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick finally to create a protected office, the corporate’s determination to herald , a legislation agency that has a historical past of representing administration on issues referring to unionizing, made many doubt the sincerity of his statements.

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